So far, Good Reads seems to be loving this book so I guess I am going to be the one who farts in the tub on this one. An exhausting travelogue filledSo far, Good Reads seems to be loving this book so I guess I am going to be the one who farts in the tub on this one. An exhausting travelogue filled with way too many mundane detail for me (do we really care the order in which anyone arranges her toiletries or need a grocery list of which chain motels she stays in which little towns?)

Kenny is a useless man-child and isn't written in a way that illustrates why he would cast a 10 year shadow, let alone 10 minutes. The author draws a vague, last minute comparison between her and Kenny and Hemingway and Agnes von Kurowsky. But Talbot is not Hemingway; many of her observations about love and loss and memory seem closer to "love means never having to say you're sorry" cliches.

There are some flashes of strong writing in this one but not enough for me to recommend it to anyone besides the "single mom with deadbeat ex" population. And maybe the adjunct professors out there who have to hustle from position to position and work like a coolie for a minimum wage....more

In the first two pages we learn that the seashore at dawn is the only place where the main character doesn't feel unwelcome, and where she actually feIn the first two pages we learn that the seashore at dawn is the only place where the main character doesn't feel unwelcome, and where she actually feels any bliss and connection. And everything in the book unfolds from that initial awareness.

I like the way the author writes fading masculinity; a subtle symphony of impotence and urine dribbles and scotch and simmering frustration. Sure we all know about the interchangability of trophy wives for younger models and how the previous models conveniently vanish. Lots of authors write those people well enough, and gossipy busybodies and horny unfulfilled wives and status whores and the sadness of boner pills. But what does a man do when a beautiful woman looks at him and thinks OLD (not older) man, before he becomes invisible entirely? The author has a nice touch with the aging and nearly irrelevant male.

lThe truly atrocious characters in this book are fairly two-dimensional, although still entertaining. It is the characters that are deeply flawed but not atrocious (everyone else, including the 2 narrators) that are compelling and make the novel worth reading.. Although like Teddy says, "it's hard to find someone who gave a shit about you."...more

Everyone from Bukowski to the acclaimed American songwriter Richard Marx has written about thMy highest praise - I wish I would've written this book.

Everyone from Bukowski to the acclaimed American songwriter Richard Marx has written about the corrosions and corruptions of Hollywood. In an entire nation of strivers, this is where the true masters of the craft move to claw their ways onto the big and little screens. So when I picked up this slim novel by a guy I never heard of (purchased for the cover, a validation of our human shallowness) I was prepared to be underwhelmed.

Wow, what a tremendous read. You can feel the wheels coming off page by page before the entire disintegration accelerates at warp speed. If you are looking for light and breezy, there is nothing to see here. But if you want to read something about our essential American loneliness, look no further....more

Started out with promise and then ran out of gas. It seems like the editor decided to take the second half of the book off. There are some nice bits aStarted out with promise and then ran out of gas. It seems like the editor decided to take the second half of the book off. There are some nice bits and pieces within but overall it wasn't particularly compelling. There are better books about the tedium and resentments and fundamental aloneness of marriage. Or I am guessing there are, its not a genre I care to frequent....more

A fine book that seemed like intertwined scenes and vignettes around a central character who we never really understand beyond his universal need to bA fine book that seemed like intertwined scenes and vignettes around a central character who we never really understand beyond his universal need to be loved and desired. Nostalgic without being maudlin, written with a beautiful clarity and economy of language without being particularly lyrical. The most important lesson I learned? If there's ever anyone you really f@€ king hate, buy them a greyhound....more

This should be the future of historical photo books because it is tactile and 3 dimensional. The photos are family snapshot quality and many of them,This should be the future of historical photo books because it is tactile and 3 dimensional. The photos are family snapshot quality and many of them, enlarged to coffee table size, do not hold their sharpness. Nevertheless, a very entertaining package of photos and memorabilia. This delightful book contains everything from a recipe for herring fried in oatmeal to a chart instructing soldiers on how to avoid radiation from a nuclear bomb. Very entertaining....more

Three stars might seem like faint praise but this is definitely a haunting and unforgettable book and you should buy it and read it. It is not a "greaThree stars might seem like faint praise but this is definitely a haunting and unforgettable book and you should buy it and read it. It is not a "great" book in the sense of construct or prose, necessarily. Threads are pursued and quickly abandoned and the first 50 pages are easily the best. We don't learn much about the 5 people she lost in the tsunami save some details about her husband Steve, who she met at university. She paints a portrait of him but it comes late in the book and we aren't really given more than a grief-stained one-dimensional snapshot of everyone she lost. But perhaps just the losing is enough and we don't need to be told much else.

If nothing else, the story should act to kill 95% of memoirs that will ever be written and should act as perspective for anyone who ever whined endlessly about being stuck on a runway or on the 405....more

I agree this book isn't what it could've been, but then again neither were the lives of the main characters. A quick and ultimately satisfying read buI agree this book isn't what it could've been, but then again neither were the lives of the main characters. A quick and ultimately satisfying read but I also enjoy ambiguity and unanswered questions....more

At about page 83 I realized I was starting to get weary of Joe's adventures in reading. I enjoy his writing in the pelletized newspaper column format,At about page 83 I realized I was starting to get weary of Joe's adventures in reading. I enjoy his writing in the pelletized newspaper column format, and his sense of whimsical humor and de rigeur Irish sense of self-deprecation is ever-present. He is never sidesplittingly or wickedly funny, more a member of the same tribe as Dave Barry or Erma Bombeck. If your tastes run in that direction then you will enjoy this book. To me, it was like reading the same 5 pages over and over. Or overhearing the most well-read member of a book club holding court.

Queenan admits it is perfectly appropriate not to finish a book, or to set it aside for years; he has 138 such books on his own shelves. I soldiered on to the finish, although his lifelong voyage as a booklover didn't always speak to me. As he admits, reading is an intensely personal experience. So, apparently, is trying to read about what someone else has been reading.

I did get a good laugh when he addresses citizen reviews in forums like Amazon and GoodReads, however. Hiding in our virtual book depository and taking rifle shots at great authors as they ride by in their convertibles, we are actually providing a noble service!...more